Their power of Orange vaults Bruins

EYE ON THE PIT: UCLA pole vaulter Dustin DeLeo, a Los Alamitos high school graduate, makes his approach during a recent practice. LEONARD ORTIZ, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

LOS ANGELES It seemed like a good idea at the time. And sure, boredom played a part in that.

The waves at Salt Creek Beach were too tame to pique much interest; nothing else did, either. So rather than sit idle on this sunny summer afternoon, Johnny Quinn set out to pole vault in the front yard of his Dana Point home ... not just pole vault, but clear 121/2 feet.

Now, that might be a pedestrian height for a collegiate pole vaulter when graced with proper facilities such a cushy pit in which to land. But perhaps it is not when the run-up is set between parked cars and rose bushes rather than an all-weather, synthetic surface.

Quinn wasn't certain. But he knew that he was going to give it a shot anyway.

"That's the kind of stuff that we do when there's nothing to do," he said.

So Quinn pulled the plug off the end of the fiberglass pole, hoping it would dig in and stick in the grass. He tied together a couple of old surfboard leashes to use as a crossbar.

He was going to pull the mattress off his bed to use as a landing pit, but his mom quashed that idea. Instead, he pulled two cushions off the sofa and placed them strategically on the ground.

Quinn had a buddy there with a video camera to tape it.

A lean backward, then seven, eight strides and up and over the makeshift crossbar he went. He landed on his feet — barefoot, of course — went into a roll and came to a stop a foot or two from a car parked in a driveway.

"It probably wasn't the best idea in retrospect, but it was a lot of fun," he said.

That sort of entertainment is not at all anomalous in the UCLA Bruins' close-knit pole vault program and is an appropriate introduction to a growing powerhouse spiced with personalities from Orange County.

It is a group that surfs together, skateboards, snowboards — and thinks nothing of catapulting two stories at the end of a fiberglass pole while enduring injuries, embracing the danger involved and recognizing it might not be a sport for everyone.

"I've always liked adventure. â¦ I don't know why anyone thought it would be a great idea for a sport, but it's really fun," said Tori Pena, an Edison High graduate.

"We're the kids jumping off roofs and jumping off apartment buildings into pools, that kind of thing," said Dustin Deleo, from Los Alamitos.

Of the 16 pole vaulters in the UCLA program (eight men and eight women), seven are from Orange County high schools.

"It's the power of the Orange," Anthony Curran, the Bruins' pole vault coach, said jokingly.

Junior Bobby Talley, who won the Pac-10 outdoor championships with a jump of 17-1, went to Dana Hills. Redshirt freshman Greg Woepse, third at the conference championship meet at 17-1, went to Mater Dei. Senior Megan Jamerson, who has cleared 1331/2 and is tied for eighth on the UCLA career top 10, went to Santa Margarita. Elizabeth Woepse, who struggled through hamstring injuries in her senior season, also went to Mater Dei.

Deleo, Quinn and Pena qualified for the NCAA championships, which begin today at Des Moines, Iowa, along with Tori Anthony and Katy Viuf. With five athletes advancing, UCLA has more pole vaulters at the national championship meet that any other program.

All five could score, most prominently Deleo, who in April cleared 18-1, the second-best mark in the nation this year and fifth best in UCLA history.

The possibility of an injury is a constant in the sport. Deleo fractured three bones in his hand when a pole snapped on him during a vault, Quinn was forced to sit out for 14 weeks because of a fractured vertebrae, Viuf was in the emergency room earlier this season after what she coolly referred to as a crash. But with all risks come rewards."There's always that fear factor. That's what makes these kids great, when you can block that out and go," Curran said. "Sailing over the bar, there's no feeling like it."

EYE ON THE PIT: UCLA pole vaulter Dustin DeLeo, a Los Alamitos high school graduate, makes his approach during a recent practice. LEONARD ORTIZ, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
MORE HEIGHT: UCLA pole vaulter Johnny Quinn, a graduate of St. Margaret's high school in Dana Point, hits the rope on a pole vault attempt during a recent practice. LEONARD ORTIZ, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
TURN AND CLEAR: UCLA pole vaulter Tori Pena, a graduate of Edison high school in Huntington Beach, just touches the bar as she pole vaults during a recent practice. LEONARD ORTIZ, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
THE TURN: UCLA pole vaulter Dustin DeLeo, a Los Alamitos high school graduate, makes turn as he extends himself over the bar during a recent practice. LEONARD ORTIZ, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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